Heron Park ablaze with colour at Kite & Family Fun Day!

Upwards of two thousand people took advantage of the glorious weather on Sunday 4th March, to celebrate Children’s Day at our Kite and Family Fun Day in Heron Park Waterview. The sky was ablaze with an amazing array of colourful & dramatic kites, including many supplied by kite enthusiast Perrin Melchior of Kiteworks.

Thanks to the generous support of the Rotary Club of New Lynn, over 200 free kite kits were made available for children to assemble, decorate and fly! The Rotary team were also kept extremely busy at their Sausage Sizzle stand, as there were many hungry people, thanks to all the activities on offer.

The event was opened by Margi Watson, Deputy Chair of Albert-Eden Local Board, who commented that “Events like this are fantastic for everyone. I am an avid supporter of the community and any initiatives that help everyone live in a stronger, safer and more inclusive
community.”

The event began with an energetic Masala demonstration by a team from Candi Soo Fitness. The crowd were encouraged to join in, and there was no shortage of children taking the opportunity to join Candi on the stage, and to have their moment in the limelight! Pupils from Avondale Primary then gave a spirited display of Rippa Rugby, and this was followed by Family Races. With encouragement from popular MC, Lucy Lawless, people of all ages (toddlers to adults), participated enthusiastically in the running and sack races!

Alongside of this, the park was buzzing with activity, as people took advantage of the wind, to fly their kites and take part in numerous other activities. These included face painting, cup cake decorating, coconut shy, a colouring in competition, merry go round and painting at the Habitat for Humanity stand. There was no shortage of interesting stalls to visit, with many of the event’s sponsors running great competitions – including MOTAT, Auckland Zoo, Honda, Goodwin Property Management and Localist. Two constables from the Avondale Neighbourhood Policing Team took advantage of the opportunity to ‘mix and mingle’ with the crowd and a representative from the Mount Albert Community Patrol car was there to let people know about their valuable work in the community.

The crowd was treated to some heart-warming entertainment, provided by pupils from local schools. There was a range of cultural performances, including a Samoan sasa, a waiata and singing by Avondale Kindergarten; Kapa Haka by Rosebank Primary School, and a cultural dance medley by Avondale Intermediate School. The latter were a group of seventy Year 8 children from seven different cultures: Tongan; Fijian, Samoan, KapaHaka, Indian, East Asian and Niuean.

The final entertainment item was a performance by “The Believaz”, a Christian band from Immanuel Christian School, who conveyed their positive message in the rap/rock genre.

Thanks to the generous support of many sponsors, the day culminated in a bumper prize giving session – with fabulous prizes awarded to winners in the Family Races, Kite Competitions and Colouring In competition. An added bonus for many participants, was receiving their prize from Lucy Lawless – and many made the most of the photo opportunity!

Winner of the prize for ‘most impressive kite flying’ was 84 year old, Mr Ivan Smart from Mt Roskill, who has been flying kites since he was 9!

This is the third successive year that Kite & Family Fun Day has been held at Heron Park in Waterview. Catherine Goodwin, co- founder of the Restoring and Developing Community Spirit Charitable Trust says that the aim of the trust is to “mobilize people to participate in and care for their local community, to re-ignite conversation and celebrate local successes".

Our sincere thanks to these generous businesses, individuals and groups:Kite & Family Fun Day was made possible with donations of time, money, expertise, products and services from the following:
Lucy Lawless was our fabulous MC; Margi Watson opened the event & assisted with judging the Kite Competition & Zvonko Djuric of Open2view.com took some amazing photographs, to provide a great reminder of a special day. Perrin Melchior, Peter Clark and Malcolm Hubbert provided some dramatic kite displays.

Volunteers: Staff from ASB, students from Auckland Girls Grammar (ASTRA Club) and AIS, members of the Rotary Club of New Lynn, Katy Walker, Frank & Michelle Poching, the team from Goodwin Property Management and the Community Spirit team and their families.
Funds raised from Kite Day will be used for furthering the work of the Restoring & Developing Community Spirit Charitable Trust.